Coordinated Waterbird counts (CWAC)
The Coordinated Waterbird Counts project (CWAC) was launched in 1992 as part of South Africa’s commitment to international waterbird conservation. It consists of regular counts of all waterbirds at a large number of South African wetlands, typically with at least two counts per year (one in summer and one in winter). As with SABAP2, CWAC counts are conducted by volunteers; people and organisations with a passion for waterbird conservation. It is one of the largest and most successful citizen science programs in Africa, providing much needed data for waterbird conservation.
CWAC data are uploaded to the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), the IWC and AEWA as part of South Africa’s commitment to these important programmes.
Coordinated Avifaunal Roadcounts (CAR)
The Coordinated Avifaunal Roadcounts project started in 1993 with the aim of monitoring Blue Crane and Denham’s Bustard populations. The project grew to include a list of 36 large and conspicuous bird species. CAR counts take place twice a year (mid-summer and mid-winter) across South Africa along set road routes.
Virtual Museum (VM)
The Virtual Museum (VM) is a database system and web front-end designed to provide a platform for citizen scientists to contribute to science driven biodiversity projects. A key advantage over competing databases is that submitted records are identified and vetted online by a panel of experts. Taxon-specific VMs serve as repositories for the long-term curation of distributional data sets. These data are made freely available in the form of maps and lists through the internet. VMs have been used as the platform for national Conservation Assessments of reptiles, butterflies, mammals and birds.
Currently the VM hosts 17 biodiversity projects: BirdPix (bird pictures archive); BOP (odd plumages of birds). PHOWN (photos of weaver nests), and 14 atlases: DungBeetleMAP (dung beetles, Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). EchinoMAP (African Echinoderms: sea stars, sea urchins and brittle stars), FishMAP (freshwater fish in southern and eastern Africa), FrogMAP (African frogs), LacewingMAP (African Neuroptera and Megaloptera), MushroomMAP (South African mushrooms), OdonataMAP (African Odonata), OrchidMAP (African orchids), LepiMAP (African Lepidoptera), ReptileMAP (African reptiles), ScorpionMAP (African scorpions), SpiderMAP (African spiders), MammalMAP (African mammals), and TreeMAP (South African trees).